Juice Wrld
December 02, 1998
Jarad Anthony Higgins (December 2, 1998 – December 8, 2019), known professionally as Juice Wrld (pronounced "juice world"; stylized as Juice WRLD), was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter from Chicago, Illinois. His song "Lucid Dreams" has been played on the music streaming platform Spotify over one billion times and peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100. "Lucid Dreams", along with his earlier hit single "All Girls Are the Same", helped him secure a recording contract with Lil Bibby's Grade A Productions and Interscope Records. He derived his stage name from late rapper Tupac Shakur and his part in the film Juice and that it represents taking over the world.
December 02, 1998
Jarad Anthony Higgins was born on December 2, 1998, in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up in the South Suburbs spending his childhood in Calumet Park and later moved to Homewood, where he attended Homewood-Flossmoor High School and graduated in 2017. His parents divorced when he was three years old, and his father left, leaving his mother to raise him as a single mother along with one older brother. Higgins' mother was very religious and conservative, and did not let him listen to hip hop. He was allowed to listen to rock and pop music, however, and he found this on video games such as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Guitar Hero, which introduced him to artists like Billy Idol, Blink-182, Black Sabbath, Fall Out Boy, Megadeth and Panic! at the Disco.
2013
Higgins was a heavy drug user during his childhood and teens. He began drinking lean in sixth grade and using percocets and xanax in 2013. Higgins also smoked cigarettes briefly before quitting in his last year of high school because of health issues.
2015
Higgins began his musical career in 2015 while under the stage name "JuicetheKidd" on SoundCloud. On February 5, he released his debut EP What Is Love?.
2016
In 2016, Higgins released 2 EPs Juiced Up, and Twilight Zone. That year, he changed his stage name to "Juice WRLD". In an interview, he chose the name Juice WRLD after Tupac, and Soulja Boy who had mixtapes with the name Juice in it while the "Wrld" is a shortened version of world and it represents him taking over the world.
2017
In 2017, Higgins became a frequent collaborator with record producer Nick Mira and briefly joined Taz Taylor's Internet Money collective. While in Internet Money, Juice released his debut EP 9 9 9 on June 15. The EP was suppoeted by his breakthrough single "Lucid Dreams". "Lucid Dreams" would then gain the attention of Chicago based rapper Lil Bibby who would sign Higgins to his record label Grade A in a joint deal with Interscope Records.
2018
Higgins said his musical influences were genre-wide from rock to rap music, and that his biggest influences were rappers Travis Scott, Chief Keef, Kanye West and British rock singer Billy Idol. Higgins was among the ranks of openly vulnerable artists born from the emo rap scene inspired by West's influential fourth album, 808s & Heartbreak (2008). Billboard writer Michael Saponara claimed, "If West and his sparse 808s were a tree, it would have grown another branch with the blossoming art displayed by fellow Chicago native Juice WRLD in 2018." During an interview with All Def Music, Higgins said, "I was singing 'Street Lights' like I had shit to be sad about. Kanye is a time traveler. That nigga went to damn near 2015 and came back with some sauce." His other influences included: Wu-Tang Clan, Quietdrive, Fall Out Boy, Black Sabbath, The Starting Line, The Cranberries, The City Drive, 2Pac, Eminem, Kid Cudi and Escape the Fate.
2018
Higgins' music has been branded as "emo" and "rock" leaning, "genre-bending" with music focusing on "every broken heart, every wounded feeling". More specifically, he has been labeled as a hip hop, trap, emo rap, and SoundCloud rap artist. With a penchant for short, hook-heavy songs, Higgins seemed a leading figure for the current era of hip-hop. In 2018, the streaming platform Spotify named "emo rap" its fastest growing genre. Higgins achieved arguably the most mainstream success of any artist in the sub-genre. This was boosted by his collaboration with Panic! At the Disco frontman Brendon Urie. Higgins himself considered the emo label to be both negative and positive. He felt that music sometimes has to be a bit dark to reflect his belief that the world is not really a light or a happy place.
May 12, 2018
Higgins' debut studio album Goodbye & Good Riddance was released on May 12, 2018. The album contains a guest appearance from Lil Uzi Vert with production mainly handled by Mira. The album was supported by 3 lead singles "Lucid Dreams", "All Girls Are the Same", and "Lean wit Me”. Goodbye & Good Riddance charted at number four on the US Billboard Hot 200, making it Higgin's first charted project. On June 19, Higgins released a tribute track to late rappers XXXTentacion, and Lil Peep titled "Legends".
June 2018
In June 2018, Ski Mask the Slump God announced a collaborative mixtape Evil Twins would released in 2019.
June 2018
Rapper Ski Mask the Slump God, his close friend who had collaborated with Higgins on the hit song "Nuketown", said on Twitter "They keep taking my brothers from me", referring also to best friend and longtime collaborator XXXTentacion, who was shot and killed in June 2018. Lil Yachty, who remixed Higgins' song "All Girls Are the Same" mourned his death along with Lil Uzi Vert, Drake, The Weeknd and others.
November 2018
He was living in Los Angeles with his girlfriend, Ally Lotti, at the time of his death. The pair revealed that they were dating via Instagram in November 2018.
February 07, 2019
On February 7, 2019, Higgins announced his second studio album Death Race for Love. The album was released on March 8, and was followed by 2 singles “Robbery”, and “Hear Me Calling”. The album contains guest appearances from Brent Faiyaz, record producer Rvssian, Clever, and Young Thug. Death Race For Love charted at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 200 and Billboard Rap Albums.
January 22, 2020
On January 22, 2020, an announcement was posted on Higgins' Instagram account by members of his family and the team at Grade A Productions which thanked fans for their adoration for Higgins and confirmed their intention to release music that he was working on at the time of his death: .mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 40px}.mw-parser-output .templatequote .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;padding-left:1.6em;margin-top:0}
May 04, 2020
On May 4, 2020, Higgins' girlfriend Ally Lotti referenced an album under the name of The Outsiders, which Higgins intended on making his next album with "Bandit" being it's lead single. However, Higgins' family and label decided to delay The Outsiders and instead create a 15-track tribute album to the late rapper. On July 7, it was revealed that the album would be Legends Never Die, which was eventually released 3 days after it's announcement. It was supported by 5 singles "Righteous", "Tell Me U Luv Me", "Life's a Mess, “Come & Go", and "Wishing Well". The album contains guest appearances from Trippie Redd, Marshmello, The Kid LAROI, Polo G, and Halsey with production mainly handled by Mira, and Ronny J. Legends Never Die debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 200 and Top Rap Albums. Higgins' manager Lil Bibby had previously hinted on a deluxe edition of the album. The album was later re-issued in August to add a new single "Smile" featuring The Weeknd.
December 02, 2020
On December 2, 2020, Juice released his first posthumous single “Real Shit” with record producer Benny Blanco, since his posthumous album. On December 8, he released “Reminds Me Of You” with Australian rapper The Kid LAROI; the song samples Kim Petras’ “Reminds Me”.
January 15, 2021
On January 15, 2021, Juice released “Bad Boy” with Young Thug which was accompanied by a music video that Higgins directed with Cole Bennett before his passing; it is also the last music video when he was alive. On March 5, he released “Life’s A Mess II” featuring Clever and Post Malone.
Late 2021
In his song, "Legends"—which was dedicated to XXXTentacion, who was shot and killed in mid-2018 at age 20, and Lil Peep, who overdosed in late 2017 at age 21—Higgins raps "What's the 27 Club? / We ain't making it past 21." Fans and media outlets commented that he had predicted his own death, as he had died only days after his 21st birthday. He also died exactly 39 years after Beatles singer John Lennon, whom Higgins often mentioned in songs.
